President issues statement about festival behavior

May 10, 2010From staff reports

Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis issued the following statement on Monday:

Ohio University condemns the dangerous behaviors of individuals at recent festival events in the Athens community. The individuals demonstrating these behaviors have put the safety of students and community members at risk.

If the responsible individuals are Ohio University students, we will
pursue the full extent of University judiciaries in investigating and
implementing sanctions against them. We call on the local authorities to prosecute all responsible individuals to the full extent of the law.

I have scheduled a meeting with Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl, city officials, landlords and community members along with University officials to implement additional procedures in the coming weeks to eliminate situations that foster dangerous behaviors in our community.

Ohio University is committed to working closely with City of Athens
leadership and community leaders to restore, preserve and uphold shared community pride. We will work diligently side by side with our community leaders in a shared sense of responsibility to eradicate these behaviors from our community.

To read the statement on the Office of the President site, click here.